The Indian markets have started today's session on a negative note. The benchmark indices opened below the breakeven mark and have remained in the red since then. Other key Asian markets are trading in the red with Hong Kong (down 1.2%) being the main loser. The US markets closed in the red and were down by 1.5% yesterday. Currently in India, heavyweights from the BSE-Sensex are trading in the red with IT and metal stocks being the main losers. However, auto stocks are in the green. The BSE-Sensex is trading lower by around 50 points, while the NSE-Nifty is down by about 15 points. The mid and small cap stocks are witnessing negligible activity with the BSE-Midcap and BSE-Smallcap indices remaining flat. The rupee is trading at 44.47 to the US dollar.
Auto stocks have opened the day on a positive note. Gainers here include Hero Honda and Maruti Suzuki. As per a leading business daily, three US led private equity firms are in talks to acquire an 18% stake in the Her Honda. This is being considered to provide a way for Japan based Honda to completely exit the joint venture. According to the discussions, this exit would be done in two ways with Hero buying out Honda’s stake in the first phase. In the second phase, the PE firms will buy an indirect stake in the company of up to 18%. The technology support agreement between Hero and Honda is going to expire in 2014. However, there are talks that this may get extended for some time.
IT stocks have opened the day on a mixed note with TCS, Infosys and Wipro leading the gains. HCL Tech is among the key losers. The company announced its 1QFY11 results (June ending fiscal) earlier this morning. During the quarter, its consolidated revenues in rupee terms grew by 10% QoQ. However, its net profits declined by 2% QoQ mainly on account of the foreign exchange losses during the quarter. The company added 5,000 employees in its IT services segment during the quarter. It has declared an interim dividend of Rs 1.50 per share.
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